Best Regular Seeds Blog

Before feminized seeds came along, regular cannabis seeds operated just as nature intended. This meant that each seed has a 50% chance of sprouting into either male or female plants.

Growers and breeders enjoy working with regular seed for its genetic stability, breeding potential and phenotype exploration. Choosing this option often comes down to cultivation experience, grow location and harvest goals.

Breeding

While feminized seeds are the preferred option of most growers, there are some who still enjoy the process of selecting and breeding their own cultivars. Regular seeds operate as nature intended, with an even chance that each seed will germinate as a male or female plant. This allows breeders to create new strains and provide high-quality clones for growers.

These traits make regular seed a popular choice for experienced cultivators, who often use them to develop their own unique strains and phenotypes. They also offer more genetic stability and variety for those seeking to preserve and enhance desirable characteristics. Though they require sexing and have a higher risk of hermaphroditism than feminized seeds, they can yield incredibly high-quality buds. They are also much less prone to environmental stress, pests and inclement weather than feminized seeds.

Cloning

If you’re interested in breeding and want to produce your own strains, regular seeds may be the choice for you. They preserve genetic stability and offer the possibility of phenotype variation. This type of variation can produce a range of effects, aromas, and flavors that will appeal to experienced cultivators and consumers alike.

Remember that cloning can be challenging and requires patience. There is always a chance that you will end up with male plants, even with careful selection of a good mother plant. As with seedlings, clones also require a lot of care, including proper nutrition and nutrient burn protection (not to mention the fact that clones are not as hardy as seedlings). However, cloning allows you to simplify your grow by taking cuttings from the same female plant. This can be a great way to maximize yield and flowering times as well as to control odors. Clones can be hitchhikers for pests and disease, so it’s important to sanitize your equipment and grow room before using it with clones.

Genetic Stability

Genetic stability allows for breeders to experiment with different strains and create new varieties. In addition, stable genetics are often more robust and better able to withstand environmental stresses.

Regular seeds also provide growers with the possibility of phenotype variation, which means that each plant may display a slightly different expression of the parent strain. This variety adds interest and excitement to the cultivation experience.

With their high genetic stability, regular seeds can be grown successfully under a wide range of conditions. However, growers must be careful to select the right seeds and maintain optimal growing conditions. This is particularly important in the case of hermaphroditic plants, which possess both male and female reproductive organs and may pollinate nearby plants. This can be prevented by properly sexing plants and removing hermaphroditic buds. It is also crucial to maintain proper temperature, humidity, and light cycles during the flowering period. This will help ensure that the plants are healthy and free of toxins.

Genetic Diversity

A high level of genetic diversity in produced seed is important, as it helps to promote a range of adaptive traits (e.g. resistance to habitat disturbances, drought or pathogens) and avoid negative inbreeding depression effects such as higher levels of empty seeds or lower vitality. However, it is not always possible to achieve a high level of genetic diversity in seed collected under different mating systems, due to differences in parental population size and selfing rates.

Wojacki et al. [2019] compared the genotypes of parents and offspring using COLONY, which allows for marker-based pedigree reconstruction and provides information on the potential relatedness between individuals. They found that, on average, the observed and expected heterozygosity in offspring generations were at a similar level to the parent generation. However, allelic richness tended to be slightly lower in offspring generations of the three seed orchards with low clone numbers (SO GREEN1, GREEN2 and GREY), most likely due to the lower number and higher relatedness of parent clones.

For growers looking to clone their favourite strains, regular seed is the only option. Regular seeds produce hermaphrodite plants far less frequently than feminized ones, allowing for robust clones that are easy to root and grow.

They also preserve genetic stability, which is important for breeders who want to develop and maintain specific characteristics in their strains. Regular seeds also offer phenotype variation, which is exciting for discerning growers.

Breeding

Regular seeds produce both male and female plants, making them an excellent choice for breeders who want to create their own cannabis strains. They preserve genetic stability, ensuring that desirable traits are passed on to the offspring. This can lead to the creation of unique and diverse cultivars.

The cultivation of regular seed is more natural and sustainable than feminized seed, as the seeds don’t contain any artificially created female chromosomes (XX). However, this also means that growers need to pay close attention to their crop and carefully identify and remove male plants.

This is an ideal option for growers who are looking for a more organic experience or are legally capped at a specific number of plants. It requires a significant amount of time and effort to manage, but with careful observation it is possible to grow a fully hermaphrodite crop that is delectable and potent. Ultimately, it’s up to each individual grower and breeder to decide whether or not this is the right choice for them.

Cloning

Using a rooting hormone and the appropriate growing conditions, it is possible to take cuttings from your favorite plants to grow as clones. This method will speed up the growing process because clones don’t have to go through the germination and seedling stage that seeds require.

With a pack of regular seeds, there’s an even chance that some will become male marijuana plants and produce pollen, but feminized seeds eliminate this issue. This is important to some growers who want to cultivate a specific strain without the risk of males interfering with their desired phenotypes.

Clones tend to have a shorter lifespan than seeds, because they don’t grow a taproot like plants grown from seeds. A taproot is a root that grows down with lateral branches along its length, which allows it to penetrate deeper into the soil to access water that isn’t available closer to the surface. Clones also need more attention than seeds, as they must be fed and hydrated.

Seeds for sale

There are many companies that offer regular seeds for sale, but some may not have the experience and history you want to feel confident in. Look for a company that offers a safe, secure and discreet buying process and also provides support before, during and after the purchase.

Growers who choose to work with regular seeds are usually experienced breeders who are looking to explore new genetics by crossing different strains. This can result in phenotype variation that produces unique and diverse cannabis varieties with different aroma, flavor, effect, and appearance.

Like all cannabis plants, regular seeds have a chance of producing hermaphrodites (plants that possess both male and female reproductive organs). To avoid unwanted pollination, growers must carefully monitor their crop to cull any hermaphroditic plants that develop. Unlike feminized seeds, hermaphrodites can be difficult to identify and remove from the growing area. This can lead to reduced yields and a less desirable overall flower quality.

FAQ

With such a strong focus on feminized seeds, it is easy to forget that regular seeds are essential for cultivating great cannabis. Here we will explore the advantages of growing regular weed seeds, and compare them to feminized varieties.

When growing plants from regular seed, the grower must ensure that they separate male and female plants well before flowering. This can be a difficult process that requires a lot of time and resources, but it is very rewarding if the grower successfully sexes their plants.

Some growers enjoy crossing different regular genetics to create new strains. This was common practice in the days before feminized seeds came onto the market, and can still be an exciting and educational experience for gardeners. Here at Amsterdam Genetics, we offer a range of classic strains like Zkittles Fast and Amnesia Haze in regular seed form. We are proud to offer such a wide selection of original 1980’s varieties in regular seed format.

Regular seeds are the best option for growers who want to breed their own strains. They offer excellent performance and are ideal for mother plants due to their hearty nature.

They also allow growers to access genetics that never made it into the feminized market. This article explains the main reasons why we at Sensi Seeds still produce and sell regular seeds.

Genetic Stability

Regular seeds offer genetic stability, preserving the traits of parent plants in offspring. This is particularly important for breeders who want to develop new strains and maintain consistency with existing varieties. Regular seed also offers the potential for phenotype variation, allowing breeders to create unique and diverse cannabis strains.

Seed longevity is a complex trait, strongly influenced by environmental conditions during seed formation and storage. It involves a number of different mechanisms, including the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, and nonenzymatic reactions that compromise molecular stability [1].

The genetic and phenotypic stability of events introduced into a plant genome by gene engineering approaches forms a major part of the risk assessment required for regulatory approvals enabling commercial product release. These evaluations usually require sequencing and Southern blot data at the DNA, mRNA, or protein level. In addition, some regulatory authorities demand a detailed examination of segregation patterns. These additional assessments can add cost and time to the overall risk assessment process.

Genetic Diversity

Regular seeds produce both male and female plants, meaning they require careful monitoring to identify hermaphroditic plants and remove them before they pollinate the rest of the crop. This is more time consuming than growing feminized seeds, but it can still be done successfully with patience and knowledge. Regular seeds are also more affordable than feminized seeds, making them a popular choice for many growers.

Genetic diversity is important for a plant species because it reduces the recurrence of undesirable inherited traits. In addition, a variety of alleles can improve a plant’s ability to survive specific environmental stresses.

The number of clones in parental generations seems to affect levels of genetic diversity in the offspring generation. For example, the effective allele number decreases from parent to offspring generation for seed orchards GREEN1 and GREEN2 but rises for SO GREY (Table 4). However, these results might be biased by sample size differences between the two generations.

Cost

For the gardener who likes to make their own seeds regular seed is a vital ingredient. Male plants are separated and pollinated with female plants to produce new seeds for cultivation. This process is also often employed by outdoor growers who wish to re-establish small pockets of wild cannabis growing in forest or mountain areas.

Regular seed is also prized by some growers as a mother plant for cloning. A cut taken from a mother plant can be used to grow a plant that is genetically identical to the parent, ensuring consistency of flavour and aroma over time.

The choice between regular, feminized, and autoflower seeds will ultimately come down to the individual grower’s preferences, genetic stability, and phenotype exploration. For growers with a limited plant count or legal limits, feminized seeds may be preferable as they reduce the risk of wasting space and resources by sexing out males. For growers who prioritize breeding, genetic stability, and guaranteed rigorous growth, however, regular seeds should be the preferred option.

Pollination

Pollination is a key ecological process that requires the mutualistic interaction of plants and animals. It is the basis of seed production and the development of new plants. It is also a key component of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Growers with regular seeds must sex their crops to ensure that male plants are removed before they pollinate females. This is a time-consuming task that requires careful observation. Ideally, sexing begins when the plant shows its sex characteristics in the pre-flowering stage.

The majority of cannabis growers now use feminized seed because it offers a greater level of security. However, those that prefer to work with regular seed still have options. The best way to tell if you’re buying a batch of regular or feminized seeds is to look at the numbering system on the packet. It should have two letters stamped on each side and a three-digit number. If the numbers are 11 or 22, you’re buying a pack of regular seeds.